Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Source Code (2011) [PG-13] ****

Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal), a helicopter pilot stationed in Afghanistan, suddenly discovers that he's sitting opposite Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) on a morning commuter train headed toward Chicago. Eight minutes later a bomb on the train detonates, killing everyone on board. And a moment later Stevens finds himself in a cramped, cold structure, communicating via a video link with Captain Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) and Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright).Stevens gradually realizes he's an unwilling participant in Source Code, a state-of-the-art military project that is being used as a counterterrorism tool to thwart bomb attacks. Stevens learns from Goodwin and Rutledge that through Source Code his mind is able to occupy the body of train passenger Sean Fentress, and that his task is to use Fentress' body to find the bomb on the train, disarm it, and identify the bomber, so that a second, even more deadly attack on the city of Chicago can be prevented.Creatively written by Ben Ripley, and tightly directed by Duncan Jones, this sci-fi thriller feels a bit like Inception meets Groundhog Day as Stevens must relive the same eight minutes over and over, each time learning a little more about his quarry. Praised by critics and audiences alike, if you enjoy sci-fi thrillers, you won't want to miss Source Code. The supporting cast includes Michael Arden and Cas Anvar.[Blogger's rating: **** out of 5 stars]
Labels: action, mystery, sci-fi, space-time, thriller Internet Movie DatabaseMetacritic 74/100RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=75, viewers=76)Blu-ray1Blu-ray2Wikipedia (caution: spoilers)